Meta AI Can Use Your Public Instagram Photos in Others' AI Images: Here's How to Turn It Off

If you have a public Instagram account, Meta AI's new Muse Image model can already use your photos and Reels to generate AI images for other people without asking you first. This is enabled by default for public adult accounts, not something you had to turn on.

Here's how to switch it off.

Why This Matters

Meta AI's @-mention feature lets anyone tag a public Instagram account inside a prompt, and the model pulls that account's public photos to build a new image. According to Meta's own Help Center, you don't get notified when someone does this to your account. Private accounts and users under 18 are automatically excluded from being tagged this way, but if your account is public and you're an adult, you're opted in unless you go and turn it off yourself.

How to Turn It Off

1. Open the Instagram app and tap your profile.
2. Tap the three lines in the top-right corner to open the menu.
3. Go to Settings, then scroll down to Sharing and Reuse.
4. Look for the section labeled "Allow people to use your content on Instagram and with AI features on Meta."
5. Turn off both toggles, one for Posts and one for Reels.

If you'd rather restrict this on a case-by-case basis instead of turning it off entirely, you can also opt out of individual posts through the Options menu on that specific post.

What This Doesn't Undo

Turning these toggles off only stops future use of your content. If someone already generated an image using your photos before you opted out, that image isn't deleted and will continue to exist. Switching your account to private also blocks this, but that's obviously a bigger tradeoff if you rely on public visibility for any reason.

Meta's Position on This

Meta has defended the default-on approach, saying Muse Image includes safety guardrails, automatically excludes private and under-18 accounts, and lets adult users with public accounts opt out "with just a couple clicks." Every image made with Muse Image also carries an invisible marker called Content Seal, meant to identify it as AI-generated.

Critics have pointed out that a watermark confirms something is AI-made after the fact; it doesn't stop the image from being created in the first place, and it doesn't require your permission before someone uses your face or photos.

If you have a public Instagram account and haven't checked this setting yet, it's worth doing now rather than assuming it's off by default, because it isn't.